Thursday, October 11, 2012

How The Goals For 2012 Are Coming Along

1. Buy that house I want. That is in the hands of the bank at the moment but I will do everything I can to get that house.

-Yes I got the house!

2. Clean out my RV and mobile home. Sell, give away and throw away as appropriate. When I get the house I can move my stuff there and this is my chance to get rid of everything I don't need.

-Nope, I haven't done any of this. I keep saying I will do it when it is cooler. Well, it is cooler so now is the time to start.

3. Sell the RV. That's a big goal. I don't know if I will do it but if I don't do something the pack rats are going to move in and ruin it.

-Nope. First I have to do goal #2.

4. Work harder at my job. I haven't started working on the goals my boss gave me last year. One is to scan a large amount of records. The other is to learn some new software. I need to spend a little time each week on those tasks or else I will never get them done.

-Not really. I rarely accomplish the goals my boss gives me every year because he keeps changing his mind! I have accomplished other things though and the boss is happy and that is really the main goal here.

5. Save money for my next housing goal which is to build on my property. I think $15k a year should be reasonable. If I live at my (hopefully) soon to be mine house for 2-3 years I should have $30k-$45k saved and if I am lucky banks will be offering construction loans once again.

-I'm not saving as much as I had hoped because I have not kept my budget as tight as it was before. I have $10k now even after I paid all of the property taxes on my rental house and property so that is good. I am thinking about repairing the fascia on this house and having gutters installed on the back and possibly a rainwater catchment tank to save water and keep the backyard from flooding. I also want to add some pavers and rock to the yard to make it look nice. If my parents house doesn't sell soon I will be tempted to re-do the kitchen, but not yet. Spending money on this house means less savings for my next house but house upkeep isn't cheap and I do want us all to be comfortable living here.

6. Take my dogs for more walks and reduce their food. My dog needs to lose 15 pounds. That's a lot of weight for a dog. I am hoping that having sidewalks to walk on will encourage me to take them out more. Also, living closer to town means we can go to the dog park more often.

-I was doing really well with walking until my dog got an abcess. I haven't taken them for a walk in over a week. Also, my big dog has developed a very bad habit of freaking out whenever a car drives by. I bought a new no-pull harness that I hope will help (another one of my weaknesses, dog stuff). It should arrive tomorrow and I will start walking again. We haven't gone to the dog park. My dog has lost 5 pounds. That is encouraging.

7. Cook more! When I get that house I will have a full size kitchen again and I am excited to cook again.

-I have definitely failed on this one. Sharing a tiny kitchen with my parents and nephew means that I stay out of it as much as possible.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting my parents and nephew to move in to my house with me when I wrote these goals. It has worked out pretty well so far. I admit that I am spending more money than usual in an attempt to amuse myself in this less-than-ideal situation. My focus has changed from early retirement to helping my nephew with school work. I still want to retire early but I expect to work at least 5 more years (I'll be 45) and then my nephew will be off to college (hopefully). My boss says I can retire in 10 years when he retires because he doesn't want to deal with new employees. We will see about that. In 10 years I will be 50. That is still an early retirement but it seems too far away.

I'm impressed by all you have achieved but am curious how you will both pay down your mortgage and retire early. Comparing your mortgage to mine, I know I have a much larger amount than yours but am hard pressed to even consider an early retirement.

Well, Sara, I could technically semi-retire now since I have my rental income and my parents are paying my house mortgage. I could get a part time job and have enough to pay all my bills. I don't want to do that yet because I want more financial security like a larger emergency fund and a big maintenance fund for the rental house. I would also like to build a house on my property and make the house I am living in now my second rental. I could probably get $900 in rent and the mortgage is only $540 so I could pay extra on the mortgage. But for now, I need a place for my parents and nephew so I will just save as much money as I can until I decide what to do next.